Back to my 1980s

After a brief discussion, the three of them went their separate ways.

Zhao Hua went home to prepare to catch fish, while Jiang Yue was responsible for inquiring about the prices of the equipment, and Xu Qian was responsible for finding out how others made soda.

Zhao Hua felt it was unnecessary, but he didn't stop them. It wasn't that Zhao Hua didn't care; it was just that supplies were too scarce at the moment.

Back in the 1990s, a type of pure sweet water packaged in plastic bags called "Little Raindrops" sold for one cent a pack and became incredibly popular. Every convenience store, especially schools, had it in their refrigerators.

Therefore, Zhao Hua was very confident that as long as the dishes he made weren't culinary disasters, he wouldn't have to worry about sales at all. However, since they were so enthusiastic, Zhao Hua didn't bother to say anything.

After going to the river to catch fish with Zhao Ru, it was already dark when they got home. After dinner and taking a cold shower, Zhao Hua carried the small bed and headed straight for the educated youth settlement.

"How's business today?"

A small lamp hung inside the shop, and Meng's father and Meng Qinghe enjoyed the cool air while using palm-leaf fans to swat away mosquitoes and flies.

It's just that there wasn't much food at the stall; otherwise, in this weather, they probably wouldn't be so leisurely. If they didn't swat away the flies in time, they would soon be collecting swarms of fly larvae...

"Brother! You're here? Business is good today!" Meng Qinghe stood up with delight to greet Zhao Hua.

However, she was greeted by Zhao Ru, who was following behind Zhao Hua. The two girls linked arms as soon as they met, and their greeting to Zhao Hua was purely out of politeness.

After Zhao Ru arranged the small bed, she lit the mosquito-repelling calamus. Zhao Hua smiled, put the bed down, found a comfortable position, and lay down, saying, "Really? What's selling the most today?"

Hearing this, Meng Qinghe turned her head and looked over, and said softly, "Matches, candles are okay too. A few people will come to buy them when there is a power outage, but they are basically unsellable at other times. The same goes for toilet paper; it sells very little. Older men and women don't buy it. Newly married men and women will come to buy some."

Zhao Hua nodded and said, "As long as someone comes to buy, that's fine. Has no one said you don't have enough stuff?"

"Yes, they'd like me to bring in some other things, but I don't dare."

Zhao Hua found this a bit intriguing. Having been in business for so long, what wouldn't he dare to do? He asked curiously, "Why wouldn't you dare? Are you still panicking?"

Meng Qinghe chuckled twice and said, "I originally wanted to buy some salt and sauce, but then I thought, there would be a lot of older women buying sauce, and they would have to keep track of the cost when they buy matches. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. There aren't as many older women selling matches and toilet paper now, so I think this is fine as it is."

Zhao Hua grimaced upon hearing this. It was the truth. Meng Qinghe's family were educated youth who hadn't gotten to know the villagers well before and didn't have any relatives or anything. Yet, other people wouldn't give them money. If it were someone from the village doing it, they would have too many relatives.

At that time, the villagers had little sense of boundaries, and he didn't care about the rules of business.

Zhao Hua thought for a moment and asked, "Does your family keep accounts now?" At this moment, Meng Qinghe was bending down to make up Zhao Ru's small bed. He turned his head to look at her, then turned back to face upwards.

Upon hearing this, Meng Qinghe turned around and glanced at Zhao Hua, saying, "Yes, but they all agreed in advance that they would be given to us the next day, and they have all been given to us."

Zhao Hua didn't know how to explain this. The villagers nowadays are somewhat simple and honest, but not many. The fact that someone would pick up the tin sheet that the village secretary left outside his door the next day was already quite good, at least because it was left at the door.

I heard that in Hongguang Village, if someone leaves something out of a house and no one is home, people will just go in and pick it up.

This is what Song Zhiqiang told him when he asked Song Zhiqiang why he always stayed at home. He said that Shuanghuai Village was alright, at least the incident of someone going into the house to pick up things wouldn't happen.

Even if it happened, it would be something like a child taking some eggs; adults would rarely do that, at least Zhao Hua had never heard of it.

It's probably because there are so many small rivers and ditches around here that they never lack food.

Zhao Hua was lost in thought and didn't respond to Meng Qinghe's words for a moment.

Seeing that Zhao Hua had suddenly stopped moving, Meng Qinghe sat on the small bed and glanced at Zhao Hua, who was lost in thought. Zhao Ru had also finished lighting the calamus.

He took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed to play around with Meng Qinghe.

After playing around for a while, the two of them lay down on the bed together. As Zhao Hua thought about it, he felt sleepy and was about to fall asleep.

A little while later, he heard the two little girls next door whispering to each other, occasionally tickling each other.

Just after Meng Qinghe finished scratching Zhao Ru, she suddenly turned to look at Zhao Hua and asked with a smile, "Did you go to your engagement today?"

Zhao Ru's hand, which was about to retaliate, froze. She silently withdrew her small paw, curled up twice, and hid to the side. She spent her days going out to sell fish and returning home together with this good friend.

Zhao Ru knew all too well about her changes. She had long guessed what Meng Qinghe was thinking, but she never dared to ask or tease her about it.

"Yes, I went this morning and didn't get back until two or three in the afternoon," Zhao Hua's groggy voice came through.

Meng Qinghe smiled and asked, "What does your sister-in-law look like? Is she pretty?"

Zhao Hua's voice, thick with drowsiness, rang out again: "Beautiful, like a fairy." His voice was broken and intermittent, and he was clearly about to fall asleep.

Zhao Ru mentally gave her youngest brother a huge thumbs up, while secretly lamenting that Meng Qinghe had become wicked and had managed to trick her brother into revealing information when he was about to fall asleep. However, she still dared not move.

Meng Qinghe chuckled again and asked, "What's your name, sister-in-law? Who's prettier, you or Zhao Ru?"

The two questions thrown at him at once seemed to have frozen Zhao Hua's brain. After a while, he mumbled in a low voice, "Song Xueping, Song Xueping is beautiful."

Zhao Ru pursed her lips. She had originally wanted to pretend to cough to deliver the message, but now that he said so, she couldn't be blamed for being disloyal. She should leave the task of collecting the body to Song Xueping.

Just as Zhao Ru was secretly complaining to herself, Meng Qinghe slowly got up and walked to Zhao Hua's side. She bent down and asked something in a low voice. Zhao Ru didn't hear what she asked, but she heard Zhao Hua say that it looked good.

Then Meng Qinghe bent down and whispered something, and then heard Zhao Hua say "I like it". Then her eyes widened in surprise because she saw Meng Qinghe bend down and press her cheek against her brother's.

With her view blocked, she wasn't sure what had happened, but she was too shocked to make any rash moves. After what seemed like an eternity, Meng Qinghe slowly stood up and then turned back to Zhao Ru, gesturing for her to be quiet.

Zhao Ru nodded frantically, and Meng Qinghe smiled and lay back down next to Zhao Ru.

"Huh? It's raining?" Zhao Hua looked up abruptly, wiping his face and mouth.